ArtSplash, Taste of Carlsbad set for next weekend

CARLSBAD -- It's like a street fair for art. At next weekend's
ArtSplash 2007, there will be booths for selling art, booths where
you can watch art being made and interactive booths for making your
very own creations.

Now in its fifth year, the two-day ArtSplash festival on
Saturday and Sept. 23 will take place on Armada Drive, between
Cannon Road and Palomar Airport Road (near Legoland California and
the Museum of Making Music). An estimated 15,000 visitors are
expected to attend.

From gallery-calibre fine art for sale to temporary street art
in chalk, ArtSplash 2007 celebrates all media, all styles. Glass,
sculpture, oil painting, watercolors -- all will be represented. If
you like, you can take a stab at sand sculpture, hatmaking, cartoon
drawing, violin making, balloon sculpting or glass mosaics.

This year's special art event will be a chalk art painting of a
koi pond by artist Lori Escalera that will incorporate real flower
petals.

Besides the art, there will be live entertainment with local
dance troupes, jugglers, magicians and musicians from 11 a.m. to 5
p.m. each day. (Highlights are the 1st Marine Division Band on
Saturday, and the Fern Street Circus on Sept. 23.)

Attendance is free both days, as is parking. Food and drink
(including beer for the over-21 set at the Karl Strauss Beer
Garden) will be available for sale. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 23. Visit
carlsbadartsplash.org or call (760) 436-2828.

And from 2-5 p.m. Saturday, ArtSplash will also play host to the
11th annual A Taste of Carlsbad. More than 20 Carlsbad restaurants
are participating, ranging from seafood to pizza, Italian to French
to Mexican.

Tickets are $20 and entitle purchasers to 15 tastes (drinks are
available as a separate purchase). They are available at the
Convention and Visitors Bureau, in the old railroad depot or by
calling (760) 434-6093. Proceeds benefit the Carlsbad Educational
Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps raise money for the city's
public schools. Money raised at the Taste of Carlsbad is
specifically earmarked for arts programs.